A report for the elections watchdog (the 'Gould review') said that Scotland's voters were 'treated as an afterthought' in the planning and organization of the May 2007 elections for the Scottish Parliament and local authorities.
Source: Independent Review of the Scottish Parliamentary and Local Government Elections 3 May 2007, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | Electoral Commission press release | SG press release | COSLA press release | ERS press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Oct
The new Scottish Government set out its priorities – both legislative and non-legislative – for the year ahead, including 11 government Bills.
Source: Principles and Priorities: The Government's Programme for Scotland, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report | SG press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Sep
The Scottish Executive published a paper outlining different options for public debate on Scotland's constitutional future. It said that the principal choices were: a small extension of devolved powers; a radical redesign of devolution and greatly enhanced powers; and full independence.
Source: Choosing Scotland?s Future: A national conversation – Independence and responsibility in the modern world, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Paper | SE press release | Scottish Parliament press release | Scotland Office press release | Compass press release | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2007-Aug
A study of voting in the Scottish Parliament election of May 2007 found that the highest proportion of rejected constituency votes came in the most deprived areas. More than 140,000 papers were spoiled, compared to 15,000 in 1999.
Source: Christopher Carman and James Mitchell, An Examination of Ballot Rejection in the Scottish Parliamentary Election of 2007, Department of Government/University of Strathclyde (0141 548 2733)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jun
The elections watchdog announced that it would be undertaking a full, independent review of the May 2007 elections in Scotland. In particular, it would be focusing on the reasons for the high number of rejected ballots; failures in the electronic counting process; and the arrangements for postal voting.
Source: Press release 4 May 2007, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Electoral Commission press release | ERS press release | Hansard | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2007-May
The Scottish National party won the largest number of seats in elections to the Scottish Parliament, and formed a minority administration.
Source: Press release 16 May 2007, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: SE press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-May
A report compared levels of political activity in Scotland with those in the United Kingdom and Europe as a whole.
Source: Kesi Mahendran and Deborah Cook, Participation and Engagement in Politics and Policy Making: Building a bridge between Europe and its citizens - Evidence review Paper One, Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Mar
